Ever since the Shiny Sheff was lost taking 20 matelots with her,there has always been controversial buzzes, i.e. Scot was transmitting, so the EW was blanked out, PWO was in the w/room and not at his def watch. There has always been this need by the media as in any tradegy to apportion blame. The PWO concerned held his hands up, lives lost must weigh heavily on his mind every day. Yet it was war, mistakes happened, this being the first and only naval war since '45 how can any one person be culpable. And all this time the guys' views that count, i.e. sheff's crew have got on quietly without spilling anything to the rapacious media. Unlike today eh!
Just watched ITN's coverage of this anniversary , and was disappointed by such a small segment that would have left the uneducated thinking that yet again the navy facked up.
Im sure our thoughts are with the guys who made it off the shiny sheff and with the families and friends of those who didnt.
I believe it certainly deserves more than 5 mins sandwhiched between some bent vicar and Alan Balls funeral.

Just watched ITN's coverage of this anniversary , and was disappointed by such a small segment that would have left the uneducated thinking that yet again the navy facked up.

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We just have to get used to the fact that the Armed Forces are only important to the UK when the press thinks so. Joe Public rarely berates the press when they're in "Muckrake" mode and the polly's only care when they can get some good press themselves.

"The ship was actually hit by the exocet missile on Sunday 4th May 1982."

F_F
To be a bit more accurate I believe 4th May 82 was a Tuesday. I only say that because 2nd May 82 (Conqueror vs Belgrano) was on a Sunday. Nonetheless the anniversary of the Sheffield's sinking will merely be "news filler" for the media, unlike for the survivors and the families of those who lost their lives, for whom it will somewhat different.

She was built here, my grandad worked on her in vickers. Its strange before he lost his marbles he used to talk about it a lot. I think he partley blamed himself for what happened in a strange way as he also worked on some of the ships the argentinians bought from vickers.

I remember watching the coverage here in the states of the tragedy. The US had four ships under construction with the same aluminum superstructure as the Sheffield. Construction was halted and the ships were retrofitted with steel. The tragic deaths aboard Sheffield probably saved many lives somewhere in the future by pointing out that aluminum burns too easily for major use in a warship. RIP brothers.

Flag you are correct and I stand corrected. The accounts I just read say that the confusion was caused by the sinking and aluminum fires aboard the Ardent and Antelope in the late 1970's. The US press was reporting Sheffield also had the aluminum superstructure. Great military geniuses that they are.